Hollow Temples

What causes hollow temples?

Wondering where your temples are? You’re probably not the only one as it is an area of the face which doesn’t get discussed all that much, especially when it comes to cosmetic enhancements.

The temples are the small flat areas that you will find if you place your fingers just above your crow’s feet area, in line with the tops of your ears, and just below where your forehead starts.

The temporal region, as it’s medically called, is quite bony with little volume in terms of fat compared to say the cheeks, where you can pinch a good amount of tissue if you try. Yet, as we age, the temples start to lose the small amount of volume they have and can appear hollow, and this affects the overall appearance and youthful aspect of the face.

A youthful face is round or oval, with a ‘full’ appearance to the shape. As we age, the overlying tissue and the bone density of the skull changes and this leads to a loss of this fullness and can result in hollow temples. This changes the face from a youthful appearance to a more skeletal, aged look.

Hollow temples treatment

Hollow temples, due to this volume loss, can be treated with dermal fillers. These are the same products often used to augment lips, recontour the jawline, plump up cheeks and correct nose imperfections non-surgically. However, the temple area is also considered to be one of the more complex areas of the face where a good knowledge of the underlying anatomy is paramount, so any practitioner performing temple fillers should have advanced training and experience – like the fully qualified clinicians at Aesthetics Life.

Usually, adding dermal filler products to treat hollow temples will not be a stand-alone treatment, but part of an overall facial rejuvenation treatment. The temples also affect the structure around them so adding volume back to hollow temples will return the roundness of the face. Hollow temple treatment can have secondary effects such as lifting the side of the brow area and can also lessen other changes in the lower face affecting the cheek and nose-to-mouth nasolabial lines.

Dermal fillers contain hyaluronic acid, which is a natural component of human skin and something that our bodies make daily. Our bodies produce lots of hyaluronic acid because it acts as a natural moisturiser, drawing in water to our skin to keep it plump and hydrated. However, our natural hyaluronic acid doesn’t last very long before we metabolise it and then need to make more. Unfortunately, as we age, we are not able to produce as much hyaluronic acid as we did in our youth, so skin becomes dehydrated and less plump. Luckily, scientists have synthesized hyaluronic acid from non-animal sources so that it is safe for use in humans. The difference being that the injectable hyaluronic acid is longer-lasting, so it stays within the tissue for much longer than our natural hyaluronic acid.